Ease by art

Are you like me? Dealing with so many things at the same time. This week was incredibly challenging / inspiring to me,

• I had a surprise minor medical intervention. (I'm fine, don't worry!) So I had to deal with quite a bit of pain for 2 days. Ouch!
• I had the most important party of the year: the birthday of my two children. Well, you can imagine all what this entails: bake cakes, decorate house, manage children expectations, etc., etc.
• I was very busy preparing something for you. I'm in the last weeks of preparation of the first "Building the Heart Centered Economy Summit": building websites, writing marketing materials, creating beautiful FB images, etc., etc. Soon, you'll hear more about it. You'll love it!

I share this with you to create a bridge of mutual empathy. We are not alone. There are surprises in life that make it extra challenging. So, how can we manage this all and don´t die in the attempt? How can you find ease in all this chaos? So, if you identify with me and would like to explore different approached to handle overwhelm, you'll love this episode. You see, I’m a mom; I’m a business owner and I’m a wife. Sometimes it goes crazy and I feel truly overwhelmed. My child is asking for my attention: “I love you, I love you, I love you”. My husband wants to discuss something very interesting. I’m processing a video for you guys. I’m cooking dinner: All at the same time. Dealing with overwhelm is an art, because it implies your heart. It’s not a science. It’s a question of your heart, not of your mind. I’ve used this beautiful word “art” as an inspiration for the 3 points that I will offer to you today.

Appreciation

Come on, what am I complaining about? My son is telling me “I love you”. It’s the most wonderful thing there is. Even if what I’m doing is very important, it’s wonderful that he’s telling me “I love you”. This will not repeat ever again. This is the moment to listen to him and embrace him; drop anything else and let the love get in. Appreciate those interruptions. Appreciate those annoyances. We are stressed because we care we care about the outcome. We are stressed about the perfect dinner/product/meeting, because we care. If we see it as our choice, as something we love, as our adventure in life, as our choice of how to live life; we can then love everything that happens.

Reframe

Once you have appreciated that your son is telling you `I love you`, now you can reframe it. So, it is no longer an interruption. What is it? You can say: “it’s a blessing”, “it’s the recognition of my work as a mother”, it’s the sign that I’m building a great relationship with my son, it’s the sign that you have been raising a sensitive human being. This is reframing: to give it a new label. Instead of the event being an interruption, an annoyance, another thing to deal with; you will reframe it as something of value. Take the example of mindfulness and the raisin. Imagine you had just one raisin to eat. Imagine you look at it with attention. You will soon connect with its immense value. Soon you will see the entire universe in the raisin. So when you will eat it, you will eat the entire universe. You can use this technique of reframing in all stressors of your life, like,

• Change “I have to work extra hours to finish this project“, for “this my legacy” or “my work makes a huge difference”.
• Change “I need to clean after the children/cook/dress them” for “I’m building the childhood memories of amazing men/women”.
• Change “I must take care of myself” for “I am my most valuable asset” of “I love to grow younger”.

Take it in

Now that you have reframed it, take it in. Embody it. Be it. Remember your life is just like climbing Mount Everest. Do you think it’s not  going to snow? Do you think it won’t be cold or wet? It will. But you see, you are climbing the Everest. You are in the greatest adventure that there is: life. You are alive. The things that annoy you remind you what you do have. Are you ill? You have a body. Is your son misbehaving? You have a son. Do you have too much work?  You got a job. Do you have too much on your plate? You are alive. Appreciate the situation, reframe it as a gift and take it in. You’ll see your overwhelm vanish and ease will emerge.

Now back to you

I would love to hear from you. Which of these ideas you would like to implement? What touched you? By writing your answers here below you will not only commit to yourself to make these changes, but you will also be inspiring others. We love to hear your voice! Write up your commitment in the comment section here below. Go ahead, do it! If this content inspired you to see your challenges in a more loving way, AND you know of someone who needs to sooth his/her perfectionism, please do help her/him out. Share this video with him or her. We need more people building better alternatives in all areas of life. Thank you very much for reading, watching, sharing, commenting! We are building something amazing: the Heart Centered Economy. To your brilliance, Tweetable quotes You are in the greatest adventure that there is: life. You are alive. @BlancaVergara Featured image by Kelly Hunter